


in the thick of it

by glossssy



Category: GOT7, ITZY (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, F/M, Lots of it, M/M, Police informant, Romance, Siblings, Stray kids x itzy, Strong Female Characters, Swearing, Torture, Violence, a little Fluff ig, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:34:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25617427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glossssy/pseuds/glossssy
Summary: Yeji and Hyunjin are the only children of the man who runs the biggest gang in Korea. As their father grows older, they begin to compete for a seat on the thrown.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Hwang Yeji & Im Jaebum | JB
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

She’s fire and ice wrapped in one. She’s a sweet smile with a fist to your teeth. She’s a pink dress with a gun strapped to her thigh.

She's Hwang Yeji.

The evening summer air blows through her long, black hair that’s pulled back into a high ponytail. Bright red eyeliner eventuates her sharp eyes and is drawn into long wings. Black jeans are tight around her thighs and a black bomber jacket hides the gun strapped to her chest. Beside her walks her twin brother, Hyunjin. He’s clad in in matching sharp eyes and black pants.

They're the most powerful siblings in the country.

A black, steel bat hangs down from Yeji's hot pink nails and she knocks it against Hyunjin's shin with every step. 

"Control yourself, Yeji." He snatches the bat from Yeji and threatens to hit her with it. She just laughs. It’s such a childish thing for a boy to do on the way to assassinate one of the most important man in the mob.

Ryujin slides around Hyunjin and grabs the bat, "Calm down, pretty boy."

"I told you not to call me that," he whines.

"Should I call you 'baby' too?"

Hyunjin falls into line with the four other men behind, defeated.

"What a wimp..." Yeji giggles into Ryujin's shoulder, but they quickly have to quiet down as they grow closer to the man's house.

His name is Yeo Jingoo, and he’s been embezzling money for months now, flying under the radar for way too long. It was Yeji who found out while she was snooping through checks, initially trying to find records on a new man rising in ranks at a strangely quick pace, but she had noticed slight inconsistencies regarding Yeo. She had brought this up to her father, and was given to honor to put together a team to take him and all of his subordinates out.

Obviously, she immediately looked to her twin brother for his help, and they put together the team together. They do everything together.

Security patrols Yeo's mansion in the outskirts of Seoul, so the first job is to take them out silently and quickly. Knives get run along throats and bodies get dragged out. Yeji and Hyunjin sprint around the house to the side entrance that they always took when they were children. The guards get taken out in one fell swoop and Hyunjin inputs the code that he’s always known.

"Ready for this?" Yeji whispers as the doors crack open.

Hyunjin taps his neck twice, then gives a thumbs up. Their own symbol for promising. Yeji does it back, then they pull their guns and enter.

Ryujin and the guys are already inside, guns out and checking to make sure they left no men alive.

Yeji runs through the bodies and blood, heels clicking on the marble floor, "Where's Yeo?"

"Upstairs. Lee and Bang have got him tied up already." Ryujin presses her foot into a guards chest to get the final breath out of his quicker. She only releases when there’s a satisfying pop from his ribs.

Hyunjin and Yeji take the steps two at a time, shooting the remaining men who have enough balls to show up. It takes two bullets, but Yeji should only have to use one more. They walk along the familiar halls and Yeji passes the room that she used to sleep in when she had sleepovers with Uncle Yeo.

She blows past it and nearly kicks down the door to Yeo's bedroom, and there he is. He’s tied to his office chair, knife against his neck.

"Uncle Yeo." Yeji smiles coldly, "Sleeping well, were you?"

"Yeji-ah... what is this?" He attempts to yank his arms out of his restraints, but fails. 

"I found the receipts," she walks around the room. Her father had always told her that moving makes you seem bigger than you actually are, so she walks. She is no longer a child. "You did well, hiding it for so long, but your men betray you. You made a deadly mistake."

"Yeji-Ah, please. I was at the hospital when you and Hyunjin were born... is this necessary?" His voice is pained, surprised. He wasn’t expecting to die tonight. The tone goes straight to Yeji's heart and she jams her tongue against the roof of her mouth, a tip she had learned from her mother to stop the tears from falling. She’s always been so quick to cry. Yeo tries to yank his arms out of the restraints again, and speaks with a more malicious tone, "I am saving the empire that your father is destroying. Some men have the brains to follow me instead of your father."

Hyunjin steps forwards, "Your men are dead, Yeo."

He spits.

Hyunjin leans close to Yeji and whispers, "Just get it over with. Kill him before he gets in your head."

He's already there.

Yeji holds her gun up, hands shaking. She hates it when she gets like this. A strong woman doesn’t cry when she’s killing a bad man. A strong woman pulls the trigger and walks away, remorseless. But Yeji's a girl, and all of the memories of Uncle Yeo buying her ice cream and picking her up after school flood into her brain and she lowers her gun. She wipes a stray tear out of her eye and chokes, "You can do it, Hyunjin."

She doesn’t have the strength to watch.

***

"Yeji, what the fuck was that?" Hyunjin barks after they’re back on the street. She walks several paces ahead of him, hands ferociously wiping away tears.

"That was our second father," she wheels around. Her mascara is running down her face and she has that crazed look in her eyes, the look that any sane man would back down at. "Do you feel no remorse?"

"No! He's against us!" Hyunjin throws his hands up, "He’s a bad man."

She nods her head and spits, "Don't flatter yourself, we’re all bad people."

"He’s worse!"

She glances behind Hyunjin at the team who are looking in different directions, trying to pretend that they aren’t listening. Hyunjin can’t believe Yeji. She has never given up a kill before, always doing it with a devilish smile. At least, those were the ones that he has seen. 

Hyunjin blows past her and calls, "I’ll see you later."

"Yeah, fuck off."

Hyunjin shoves up his middle finger, not looking behind him. He walks in the vague direction of home, footsteps clicking behind him. He’s not sure who it is, but it’s not Yeji and that’s all that matters. No one would dare put out a hit on him based on the status of his father, so it’s probably one of the team members.

"Hyunjin." At the familiar tone, Hyunjin's suspicions are proved to be true.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and answers, "Hmm."

"Is Yeji okay?"

"Probably not."

Silence.

"But she was just successful."

"No, I was," Hyunjin corrects, "She chickened out."

"Why?"

Hyunjin wheels around and faces Felix, "Stop asking questions."

"Okay."

They walk in silence through the alleys until they make their way to the main road. It’s a strip that’s filled with clubs and bars. They’re trashy and filled with girls in nonexistent dresses and low-life men stalking their prey. The clubs are the distant links to the mob, run by the men with the lowest statuses.

Hyunjin wants out as soon as possible. He usually never resorts to taxis, but he can’t wait another moment for his driver to come pick him up, so he hails one and lets Felix take it with him.

"What are you gonna do about Yeji?" Felix asks. There’s blood on his face, so Hyunjin wipes it off before the taxi driver can see. Felix mumbles a thanks.

"I'm not gonna do anything. She just needs to cool off." He cracks open the window because the taxi smells like sweat and vomit.

"Are you sure? She seemed pretty upset."

"Felix, I know my sister better than anyone. She’s gonna go home and hang out with her friends until she forgets about it. Then she'll call me when she’s ready." Hyunjin sighs out a long breath.

The taxi is taking Felix and him into Gangnam, where all the best clubs are. Hyunjin even owns one. It had been gifted to him for his nineteenth birthday, when he came of age. When he had first gotten it, everything was outdated. It screamed 90's, but not in the good way. Naturally, Hyunjin employed Yeji's help in the decorations. Now, it is a sleek area with black marble floors that climb up to the ceilings. The lighting is dim with purples and pinks, and everything else is black. One thing that Hyunjin and Yeji can always agree on is that black is the best color.

It hides bloodstains the best.

Hyunjin takes the side entrance with the stairs leading up to the VIP area, which has more furniture and less people than the club below. He is very particular about who was allowed into the VIP area, crossing off all the creepy men who had ever looked at Yeji in a strange way, and generally anyone above the age of 40. This club is for the young adults, and Hyunjin doesn't need sleazy old men to tarnish that image.

Apparently, all of Hyunjin's friends had the same idea as him and are already sitting around a table with cards in their hands. None of Yeji's friends have tagged along, supposedly at Yeji's apartment to comfort her.

Hyunjin slides his arms around Seungmin and Jisung's shoulders, "'Sup."

"Fucker, you smell like blood." Jisung pinches his nose for effect.

"Just killed Yeo Jingoo." Hyunjin sits on Seungmin's lap and looks at his cards. Three jacks. Not bad.

Minho laughs from across the table, "He never fuckin' saw it coming."

Hyunjin peers at Jisung's cards as he says, "Tied him up well, Minho."

"My pleasure, boss."

Hyunjin purses his lips at the sight of Jisung’s cards. All five cards are different, and it looks like he’s already discarded three. He’s fucked. Hyunjin stands up and walks over to Minho, "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Right, cause you only let whoever's in your bed say it," Minho teases.

Hyunjin knocks him in the head. Minho doesn’t have anything either. It’s looking good for Seungmin.

Next, he wanders to Chan and Changbin. Chan's hand is shit, but Changbin's got a straight flush.

Minho folds, as do Seungmin and Jisung. Hyunjin snickers because he knows everything. Chan’s got on a perfect poker face, complete with a sly smirk. If Hyunjin was playing, he would have thought that Chan has the world in his hands.

Apparently Changbin does too, because he folds. Chan reveals his cards with a cocky smile on his face and takes his winnings to the shouts of the other players.

"Why didn’t you fucking warn me?" Changbin knocks Hyunjin in the chest.

"I ain’t no cheat. Deal me in."

***

"Honey, it’s okay." Lia strokes Yeji's hair as the girls lay, cuddled up together on Yeji's bed. The other three girls are making food in the kitchen, but they’ll be in soon.

Yeji is crying into Lia's gray hoodie, breathing in her comforting scent with every gasp of air. She crying because the closest man she’s ever had to a father is dead, she’s crying because she’s crying about it, she’s crying because she’s just so angry at herself for being weak. She balls the silk sheets in her hands, "I’m just so... just so..."

Lia shushes her, "It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay."

"Why am I even... why do I even care? He’s..."

The other girls burst into the room. Chaeryeong is holding a pizza box that she places on Yeji's bed before curling up right beside her. Ryujin and Yuna open the pizza box and begin eating.

"Eat some pizza, Yeji-ah," Lia coos.

Yeji sits up and wipes her eyes, hands coming away with the remnants of her mascara. She barely whispers, "Thanks, guys."

"Anything for you, Unnie," Yuna reaches to squeeze Yeji's bicep affectionately, then inhales her pizza in one bite.

Slowly but surely as the night progresses, Yeji begins to feel better. Her friends always know how to hit her sweet spot and make her forget about everything else going on in her life. In this moment, she is just a 20 year old girl hanging out with her friends. There’s no weight of an empire on her shoulders, hundreds of deaths at her hands are nonexistent, she is simply a girl.

Then her father calls.


	2. Hwang fuckin' Yeji

Yeji walks into her fathers office, heart beating rapidly in her chest. His office was room 206 in the business building, hidden in plain sight as a barber shop. Most employees referred to being called to room 206 as the death sentence. It was rightfully called, since most people called to that room didn’t make it out. Of course, Yeji was different. She was his daughter after all, but he had pulled her and Hyunjin aside several years ago to tell them that he’d kill them without a second thought if they ever betrayed him. Yeji is not safe.

Before entering the office, she stops in the bathroom to check her appearance. Her eyes are puffy and her face is bloated from the constant crying last night, but she can probably push it off as being hungover. She’s dressed more conservatively, in a dusty pink oversized suit with a bright red shirt underneath. It’s more extravagant than anyone else who works here, but she likes all eyes on her. Why should it be any different today?

Walking down the hallway, she discovers that the door to room 206 is already open, and Hyunjin is standing at one side of the desk with her father sitting at the other. Of course Hyunjin is here. She walks in, boots clacking against the hardwood floors and bows to her father, not acknowledging Hyunjin.

"Good morning, father," Yeji greets. She looks at her father's shoulder instead of his face. From a young age, she was taught to never make eye contact with him. Even though he’s in her peripherals, his deepening wrinkles and graying hair are all too visible. He’d had children late in life, so he's already well into his sixties though Yeji and Hyunjin are only twenty.

"Yeji. Did you sleep well?" He asks in a hardened voice.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He shuffles papers on his desk, shoving a stack to the side so that he can rest his elbows on the bare, dark wood. He leans forwards and makes himself as large as possible, presence taking over the entire room. Yeji always admires how he has the ability to force all eyes on him, no matter the situation. "I’d like to hear about the assassination last night. It went well, I assume?"

"Yes, sir," Hyunjin speaks first, "It was taken care of quietly and quickly. I followed up with the disposal teams afterwards, and they confirmed his death and threw him on a truck to take to his family home in Busan."

"Good." Father switches his gaze to Yeji, and she burns with the strength of it. "It went well for you, Yeji?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you the one that killed him?"

It's no use to lie. Father will find out no matter what, and lying is much worse than admitting you did something wrong. Yeji droops her head and holds her breath. "No, sir."

"Who killed him, then?"

"I did." Hyunjin swallows, "Yeji let me."

She lets out the breath and relaxes her shoulders, "Hyunjin was eager."

"And you weren’t?" Father raises his eyebrows.

"She was," Hyunjin butts in before Yeji can speak, "But I asked her if I could. I’ve always been closer to him and I just really wanted to do it. It was actually really nice of Yeji to let me."

Father smirks and forces air out of his nose. "Always the giver, aren’t you, Yeji?"

She stays silent.

"While you’re here, I’ll give you both a job." He sits back in his chair, no longer needing to interrogate, "Go to the drug distribution center and pick up Mr. Nam's order. He's having trouble distributing to is buyers, so you might need to sort things out when you get to him."

"Yes, sir." Hyunjin and Yeji bow, then back out of the room.

They walk out side by side in silence. Yeji's heart is slowly slowing down, and she’s anxious to thank Hyunjin once they get in the car where no one will snitch on them. They check out at the front desk, then head out. Hyunjin drove here by himself, so they take his car to be alone. Having a driver was nice most of the time, but sometimes a moment was just needed alone.

Yeji throws herself into Hyunjin's arms once both door's have closed and she breaths "Thank you" against his chest.

He chuckles softly and rubs her back, "I wouldn’t sell you out. You’re my sister."

"I was so scared. I don’t even know why I did that last night."

Hyunjin leans back from the hug and pat's Yeji on the head, "It’s alright. Just don’t let it happen again."

Technically, Yeji is older than Hyunjin by 8 minutes. She held this over his head for the majority over his head, metaphorically and physically. She was taller than him until the 10th grade and generally acted older than him. Hyunjin was a weird kid, obsessed with comics and superheroes far past the age when it’s socially acceptable, so Yeji often acted as his caretaker. However, now that they're older, Hyunjin has enjoyed taking on the protective older brother role. At first, Yeji fought it, but she doesn’t anymore. Sometimes it’s nice to be babied.

"Do you remember where the center is?" Yeji asks. It’s been a few months since they’ve been.

Hyunjin takes a bite out of a granola bar and replies with his mouth open, "Generally. You might need to help me when we get close, though."

Yeji grimaces, "You’re disgusting."

"Some people find me really attractive."

"Obviously they’re stupid."

And they’re back to their normal selves in no time. It usually takes them longer to get over a fight, but the time has been decreasing as their maturity grows. There’s no use to fight over something if it’s not productive. When they were children, they would get into fist fights. Yeji is endlessly grateful that they don’t anymore because Hyunjin is stronger than her now. But he can’t work a gun like her. No one can.

"Turn left here," Yeji instructs, pointing her finger left because Hyunjin struggles with directions.

"And then I go straight until the center, right?"

"Right."

The sun beats down on the pavement and makes Yeji's eyes water. She forgot her sunglasses in her car, so she covers her eyes as she hurries inside. The drug center is a building hidden amongst breweries, disguised as one. It’s in a massive warehouse with windows stretching around the top of the building, letting in a ridiculous amount of light. The employees wear no clothes so that they don’t steal, though Yeji doubts that anyone would dare cross the boss of the center. 

The boss is a young man named Park Jinyoung. He took over a few years ago upon the death of his father and has doubled the profits in only a short period of time. Father constantly praises him, even more than his own children.

"Hyung!" Hyunjin walks in, smiling wide. He’s always had this strange infatuation with Jinyoung.

"Hey." Jinyoung looks up from his computer and smiles. They're in his office which is just off the main entrance. A fan blows around the hot air in the room since there’s no air conditioning. He takes off his reading glasses. "It’s been a while since you have been here. Why do you need?"

"Father sent us here to pick up Nam's drugs," Yeji explains, "Are they still here?"

"Yeah, they are." Jinyoung looks down at his computer and inputs a few numbers, then picks up his telephone. "Bring Nam's order to my office."

It's a while before the employee will come drop off the drugs, so Jinyoung invites them to sit down on the itchy red chairs.

"Is business good?" Yeji perches on the edge of the seat. She knows that it’s good. Her father has her look into the finances of the business weekly.

"Yeah. Everything is running smoothly, thank goodness." Jinyoung's reading glasses are back on and he’s mindlessly scrolling through his screen. 

"That's good. How’s your mother?" Yeji also knows how Jinyoung's mother is doing. People tend to go off the rails when a parent dies, and Jinyoung's mother has been hanging on by a thread for months. Yeji's keeping a close eye on that so that she'll know when to send reinforcements to the center.

"She's... she’s hanging on." Jinyoung’s drops his eyes to the counter. "I’m not really sure how much longer we've got, though."

"I’m sorry to hear that."

Hyunjin nudges Yeji and whispers, "You can’t just ask people that."

Overhearing his words, Jinyoung chuckles, "It’s okay."

Just then, the door to the office opens and a boy walks in, perhaps only a year or two younger than the twins. He has sharp features and his hair is pushed off his forehead. He’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, so he’s not a part of the factory workers. Yeji has never seen this boy before, which is unusual among anyone who ranks higher than a prostitute or throw away workers.

"Ah, Jeongin. Thank you." Jinyoung stands up to retrieve two large bags from the boy. "These two are Hwang Yeji and Hyunjin. The twins."

He bows deeply, heart probably racing from the rumors that constantly circulated regarding the twins. His voice is just as sharp and abrupt as his appearance as he stutters out, "H-hello."

Hyunjin stands up to shake Jeongin's hand, eyes latching onto his face, "What do you do here, Jeongin?"

"I’m a- I’m an assistant for- um- Mr. Park." He keeps his eyes trained to the floor. He’s been trained well.

"So you’re Park's man?"

"No, I’m under Choi in Songpa-gu," he manages to get a hold on himself and doesn’t stutter on anymore words.

Hyunjin cocks his head. Choi is one of the more powerful men in Songpa-gu and has many factories and clubs to run. What is he doing, sending a boy into Park's territory. It is something to look into, and Yeji makes a mental note.

"Is this your first job?"

"Yes, sir."

Hyunjin snorts, "Don't call me sir. That’s weird."

"I understand."

Yeji steps forward and places a hand on Hyunjin's shoulder, signifying that it is time to go. They bid Jinyoung and Jeongin farewell, then climb into the car. Nam lives on the opposite side of the city, so Yeji gets comfortable for the long drive ahead.

"Isn’t it strange?" She asks once they’re on the highway.

"Isn’t what strange?"

"Jeongin... Choi..." Yeji formulates her thoughts before speaking again. "First of all, Choi's in _Songpa._ Secondly, he deals mostly in skins. Why is he sending his man all the way to Mapo-gu to work in a factory if he wasn’t selling him? I’m so confused... and I’ve never even seen Jeongin before."

"I’m sure that everything's normal." Hyunjin flicks on his blinker to change lanes. "Choi probably just has a surplus of men. Didn't they just do a whole bunch of initiations?"

Yeji shrugs. "I guess. Maybe I’m just overthinking it."

Here's the thing. Yeji overthinks everything. It’s what gave her such a high rank in the mob along with being the daughter of the boss. She researches anything and everything that even seems slightly fishy and has taken part in dozens of busts in the past few years. Overthinking is a part of her that is perfect for her job description. So, she knows that she’s overthinking it, but she’s going to search through records as soon as she gets home.

Hyunjin plays soft music as they drive to Nam's, humming along every once in a while. Yeji texts with her friends. She doesn’t expect the, to know anything about Jeongin that she doesn’t know, so she keeps it to herself. Her friends are all daughters of high ranking men, so they have their own issues to deal with.

"We're here." Hyunjin turns off the car.

Yeji jerks out of her half-asleep state and wipes her eyes, careful of her makeup. A light slap to the face, and she’s good to go. Hyunjin and Yeji each carry one bag to through the doors of Nam's apartment building, and no one even bothers to check them. All of the security knows their faces, so there’s no need.

Hyunjin punches the elevator button to the top floor, and they ride up in silence. They don’t even talk when they tap their necks twice and give each other a thumbs up. Promising that if anything strange happens, they’ll stick together. It’s unsaid because they’ve already said it thousands of times.

The elevator doors open to Nam's apartment, which has red carpet and black walls and golden details. It’s highly distasteful, in Yeji's opinion.

"Aw, my favorite twins!" He sweeps into the entrance area, wearing a long, red silky bathrobe. His long grey hair follows him into the room, curly and frizzy.

"Hello, sir." Yeji and Hyunjin bow, so Nam does as well. They don’t bow to most people anymore, but Nam is a man they’ve known since birth, so it’s ingrained in them to bow.

"You have it?" He walks forward, feet padding on the carpet. He takes the two bags and opens them to check that everything is in there. "Do you want any for your troubles?"

"No thank you," Hyunjin politely declines, "Yeji and I don’t do drugs."

"A smart decision." Nam waves in his maids to take the bags who knows where. He then beckons the twins to come in further, saying, "Stay a while. I bet that you two haven’t eaten yet. I’ll make you lunch. You can meet my new initiate."

"You have an initiate?" Yeji walks beside Nam. Why doesn’t she know anything today?

Nam motions to a maid and she scurries to the kitchen, likely to make food. "Yes. Im Jaebum. He just became a made man a week ago."

Ah, Im Jaebum. Yeji knows that name.

"What does Jaebum do?" Hyunjin asks. 

Nam pulls out Yeji's chair for her, then sits down in his own, "Ask him for yourself, he should be joining us in a few moments."

As if on cue, Jaebum walks in. He’s clad in a cheap, black suit, yet it fits him well. He’s wearing a black shirt under the suit, curiously missing the tie. Two buttons are popped. He has sharp eyes and a defined nose, set in a way that makes it look like it would be difficult to smile. Yeji's seen this face before in her father's records, but he’s different in person. More handsome and more... scary.

They stand to greet each other.

"It’s nice to meet you." Yeji bows.

Jaebum smiles curtly, "You’re speaking formally."

"You’re older than me."

"How do you know that?"

Yeji can’t say that she knows it because she’s spent over an hour examining his file, memorizing all of his information just in case it was needed. Instead, she says, "You look older than me."

"Fair enough. I’m 26. But you’re my superior." He looks straight into Yeji's eyes and she is forced to avert them to the ground. How strange.

"Shall we speak casually, then?" Yeji suggests.

"Alright."

While this whole conversation was happening, Hyunjin was waiting for his turn to greet the initiate. He bows, "I’m Hyunjin. Shall we speak casually as well?"

Jaebum places his tongue in between his teeth, then shakes his head. "No."

Yeji smothers a smile at Hyunjin's blatant pout, then sits down. Jaebum is across from her, and Hyunjin is at her side.

"Jaebum, tell them what you do." Nam instructs.

He sits up straighter than his natural posture and clears his throat, "I do lots of researching for Nam, finding out who is loyal and who’s not. I also get my hands dirty sometimes." A smile plays on his lips at the last sentence.

"I do lots of researching as well." Yeji tucks her hair behind her ear, "I find that I feel more secure when I know everything about everyone."

"So that's how you knew my age?" Jaebum's tone is playful.

Yeji is unable to hide an embarrassed grin, "You're a smart man."

"I have to be."

The maids bring out the food, and Jaebum looks around nervously. He’s obviously not used to being served, since he grew up poor in Goyang City.

Yeji digs into the food, suddenly realizing how hungry she actually is. This is her first meal of the day, having only drank a cup of tea in the morning.

"I have a favor to ask of you three." Nam says once he finishes his plate, pushing it back. "There’s some men stirring up some trouble around here, and I’d like you to give them a warning."

"Sir?" Hyunjin lowers his eyebrows quizzically.

"They’re cutting profits and such, nothing justifies death, but I’d like to scare them. Hyunjin, Yeji, I know that you could do the job just right." He hisses out the last two words.

"Torture?"

Nam snaps, "Precisely."

Hyunjin shoots a glance at Yeji that asks 'Are you okay with this?', and Yeji nods.

"We'll do it."

"Perfect. You’ll be compensated, of course. Jaebum has all the information, but he’s a rookie, so..." Nam continues blabbering away, probably the effect of whatever drug he's chosen today, but Yeji's attention is directed to the man in front of her. He’s likely not listening either, lips pulled into an amused smile and staring straight at Yeji. She drops her hands into her lap and watches her fingers take off her rings, then put them back on.

Her breath stutters as someone else's foot hits hers. It can’t be Nam because he’s too far away, and Hyunjin would have murmured an apology. It has to be Jaebum from the smirk on his face. Yeji gulps. This is a full grown man. What is he doing?

"Do you have that?" Nam finalizes the mission.

"Yes."

  
Hyunjin drives them to wherever they’re going after stopping to get gas. Jaebum is in the front seat to give directions, and Yeji is shoving her gun into her holster and finding a place for her knife when Jaebum turns to the back seat, "You don't need your gun."

"It’s a precaution." Yeji double checks that the safety is on, then forces it back in place. She trusts Nam, but she’s not dumb so she can’t trust Jaebum yet. The gun is just as much for him as it is for the men they’re supposed to torture.

"Yeji, are my gloves back there?" Hyunjin looks in the rear view mirror. She chucks them up front, then finds her own. They’re black and worn in, but they do the job just right. "Do you have gloves, Hyung?"

Jaebum purses his lips. "Hyung?"

"What am I supposed to call you, then?" Hyunjin nearly shouts.

Jaebum shrugs, "Hyung is fine, I guess. And no, I don’t have gloves. What are they for?"

Yeji snickers, "You gotta keep your hands clean and your fingerprints to yourself. Nam hasn’t told you to get a pair of gloves yet?"

"No?"

Yeji pokes her head in the backseat and reaches for Hyunjin's spare pair of gloves. She throws them at Jaebum's head. "Here, dumbass."

Jaebum rubs his head, then sits back in the seat.

"I have a question, though." Yeji taps Jaebum’s shoulder and leans forward. Jaebum turns around, face surprisingly close to Yeji's. She backs up, then continues. "Do you know anyone named Jeongin? Young guy. I don’t know his last name."

He shakes his head, "Doesn’t ring a bell, no."

They reach the place where the men supposedly hide out. There was four of them who had been refusing to sell for weeks, keeping all of the coke for themselves. Jaebum pulls on his gloves and flexes his fingers, getting used to the feeling. Yeji ties her hair back with a hot pink scrunchie.

_Tap tap thumbs up._

Hyunjin and Yeji kick down the door, guns out. The safety is on and they have no intention to shoot, but they need the men to fear them. It’s all a psychological game. It’s a small room with minimal furniture and a table in the middle with cards sprawled out over the wood. Sure enough, four men are sitting there and shoot into the air.

"Don't shoot!" One of them holds their hands up, surrendering. It’s not that easy.

Yeji steps forward, sure of herself. Three of the men back up, but one stays put with a lazy smile on his face. "What’re you gonna do, little girl? Shoot me?"

She nudges the gun against the side of his cheek and takes off the safety, "Don't."

"Or you’re gonna what? You ain’t got the-" his words are cut off by a scream due to a bullet in the foot.

"I've got the guts." She watches him fall to the ground, clutching his foot. "I’m Hwang fuckin' Yeji."

The men are high and scared, obviously surprised at the use of a gun. Yeji motions to Hyunjin and Jaebum that they can proceed, and they take on the two more burly men. They're both high as a kite, so their movements are sloppy and easy to block.

Yeji clicks the safety on, puts the gun in her holster, then cracks her knuckles. The guy that she's going to fight has long hair sticking up in every direction and facial hair that is far past a five o’clock shadow. She puts up her fists and cocks her head, signaling for the man to come get her. He glances in the direction of his friends, stalling.

"I'm just a little girl, right?" Yeji takes off her pink jacket so that she'll have better motion, "Prove that you’re something you’re not."

This sets off the man and he charges, swinging at Yeji's head which she easily avoids. A punch to his stomach sends him stumbling backwards, and he comes back with another swing at her head. Yeji's bored. This fight is no fun. She kicks his feet out from under him and he falls to the ground. The heel of her boot presses into his torso until she hears the satisfying crack of his ribs. 

The fight is over in just over a minute with none of the winners even breaking a sweat.

"Go home to your families tonight." Jaebum spits on the ground. "Then sell your fucking drugs. This was a warning."

On the way out, Yeji steps on the foot of the man she had shot just to hear his scream. She is _not_ a weak little girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know anything about guns and I don’t feel like researching lol. Hyunjin chapter next :)


	3. Hwang fuckin' Hyunjin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making men or made men isn’t actually making them like robots. It’s like making them part of the mob ig. At least that’s what I heard in a documentary lmao

Feet pounding onto the scalding concrete to the beat of the rock song blasting through Hyunjin's earphones. Breath coming fast and hard, heart pounding, sweat dripping off us forehead. Everything aches on his body and all the colors in the early morning are too bright but he can’t close his eyes as he weaves around the narrow alleys of Seoul.

He's pushing himself past his limit, and not in a good way. Hyunjin knows that he needs to take a break, but the way his feet hit the pavement is rhythmical and consistent, unlike everything else in his life. 

Apparently, Yeji's smitten with Nam's initiate. She hasn’t said anything to confirm it, but Hyunjin knows his sister well enough to know her thoughts before she knows her own. Something about Jaebum irks Hyunjin to no end. Minho had suggested that it was simply his overprotective nature protecting his sister, which is a possibility. Hyunjin doesn’t know what it is, but he’s determined to find out.

Another thing pressing on his mind is the boy from the drug center. Choi's man. Jeongin. Hyunjin's not thinking about Jeongin in the way that Yeji is, it’s more like the traces of his smile linger in Hyunjin's brain. Before falling asleep last night, Hyunjin imagined that Jeongin was beside him. It’s strange because Hyunjin usually isn’t one to take his imagination past reality, but evidently Jeongin is breaking down barriers from their admittedly short interaction. 

There's two many things to think about. Always too many things to think about.

Finally, Hyunjin manages to stop himself. His feet come to an abrupt halt and he leans against a brick wall, sucking in shallow breaths. For a moment, he’s able to only focus on his breathing, but then it evens out and everything crashes on top of him again.

Hyunjin checks his watch and finds that it’s barely past seven. Most people aren’t even awake yet, but Hyunjin's already cutting it close with his meeting of the club owners in Gangnam. All these fucking old men choose to meet at the ungodly hours or the morning. It’s ridiculous.

"Hyung. Are you up?" Hyunjin calls Minho.

Minho grumbles through the speaker, "I guess I am now."

"Cool. Come pick me up."

"Hell no, dude. It’s so fuckin' early." There’s shuffling on Minho's side of the call, and a faint female voice speaking incoherently.

"We’ve got the meetings with the club owners in an hour, and I'm literally so far away from home." Hyunjin walks back to a Main Street, then spots a cafe across the road. "I’ll buy you coffee."

"And a croissant."

"Sure, Hyung. Whatever."

"Send me your location." With that, Minho hangs up the call. There’s hardly any cars on the road at this time of morning, so Hyunjin has no issue crossing and going into the cafe. He’s wearing athletic shorts that Yeji hates and a tank top with the sleeves cut down to his waist. His attire is completely different from the other customers in the shop, but at his moment, he doesn’t need to be professional. He’s Hwang Hyunjin, 20 year old kid. Not Hwang Hyunjin, heir to an empire.

Minho comes by 20 minutes later, already dressed for the day in an all black suit, wearing a tie. Hyunjin hands Minho his coffee and croissant.

"Ew, you stink." Minho opens to windows.

"We're gonna be so late to this fucking meeting." Hyunjin rubs his temples, "These club owners already think of me as some fucking amateur, if we're late they’ll get on me for so long."

"It’s fine. We’re 15 minutes from your house, and your house is only 5 minutes from Min's club. You’ll be fine."

Hyunjin does the math. He only has 20 minutes to get ready.

It's a race once he gets in the house. He showers in 5 minutes, avoiding the fruity body wash that he usually opts for and going for some old spice shit that makes him smell more manly. He blow dries his hair, then slips into a suit that Minho has laid out for him. Minho ties the tie for him since he’s absolutely useless, and they’re out the door with 6 minutes to spare.

"Fuck." Hyunjin exhales, throwing his briefcase into the backseat. "That was fuckin' crazy."

"You swear to much."

"I’m a fuckin' mobster, dude." Hyunjin rolls his eyes.

Minho punches him in the arm, "If you’re gonna swear that much, learn another word besides 'fuck'."

"Don’t wanna."

They pull up to Min's club a few minutes early, but they still rush inside. Everything is always a rush. Min's club is nice, Hyunjin supposes. It’s a bit mature for his tastes, but Min always draws the older crowd, though he’s the youngest of the owners besides Hyunjin. The carpet is a deep red that would be tacky if Min hadn’t decorated so well, with booths scattered about and a bar worthy of K-Dramas. 

However, Hyunjin and Minho blow past the main area and climb two flights of stairs to the meeting room. It is much fuller than the rest of the club, only made up of beige walls and concrete floors. This is wear Min does his interrogations and killings, so it shouldn’t look to nice.

"Hello." Hyunjin and Minho bow to the older men, and they do the same. It’s always a strange balance of power, because Hyunjin is technically higher in status, but he’s still seen as a child. Not like Minho. Minho is respected because he looks like a man and smells like a man and knows when to cross his legs or not. Hyunjin is still learning, as everyone likes to remind him.

The meeting is boring. The men discuss payments and skins. Hyunjin gives his opinion even when it’s not wanted just to prove that he’s as much a part of this as anyone else.

"Hyunjin. You don’t have prostitutes in your club, right?" One of the men, Kang, says.

"Correct, sir."

Kang leans back in his chair. "That’s why your club is not doing as well as it should."

"With all due respect, sir, my club is making more than yours."

"Impossible." Kang snatches up the reports from the past month and scans down the list. Hyunjin and Minho share knowing glances. Neither of them are comfortable enough to sell and buy skins, so they just leave it to the sick old men who get off because of it. Of course, it’s part of business in a mob because there is always demand for prostitutes, but he will stay out of it as long as he can. Especially when children are involved. Kang takes off his reading glasses and rubs his temples, saying nothing.

Silence means winning.

The meeting stretches until 10, then it’s finally time to leave. Hyunjin likes running a club, but the meetings are excessive in his opinion. He has more important things to attend to, anyways.

The more important thing being a visit to Jeongin. Yeji wants to do research, but doesn’t know his last name, so she sent Hyunjin on the job since she’s busy today. He lets Minho go on his way, then calls a car to take him all the way back to the drug center.

**to: Yeji**

im on my way to the center

**from: Yeji**

Okay good.

Thank you for doing this for me.

Also, try and see what you can get Jeongin to talk about. Ask him what he does under Choi.

Record it.

**to: Yeji** ****

omg chill tf out it’s fine

ill record it to give u peace of mind ig

**from: Yeji** ****

Thanks.

**to: Yeji**

what are u doing today anyways

whyd you make me do this :(

It takes a while for Yeji to reply, so Hyunjin focuses his attention outside the window at the quickly passing buildings. She’s always overthinking everything. At least this is a chance to see Jeongin again.

Hyunjin doesn’t like that he thinks like that.

**from: Yeji**

The girls and I are making a transaction with Jung's gang.

I don’t remember the name of it lol.

You're distracting me.

'The girls' meaning Yeji's high-class group of friends. Each of the girls belong to a high-ranking mobster or a politicians daughter. Yeji is meticulous even in her friend choices. Hyunjin has to admit that it has provided the gang with incredible connections through the years. However, Hyunjin is more careless in his friends. He has many friends, but only two close ones. His friends vary in rank. In fact, two of them aren’t even in the mob.

**to: Yeji**

lol sry

ill send you the audio recording when i leave 

Yeji quiets down after that. The car enters the warehouse district and Hyunjin focuses on making himself presentable. It’s just for the sake of looking like an accomplished mobster, with the added notion of looking pretty for Jeongin. Hyunjin slams his head into the window before climbing out of the car and straightening his suit. He slicks back his slightly too long hair, then enters the building.

"Hyung." Hyunjin greets Jinyoung with a hug. They’re back in the same office from yesterday, but the air is considerably lighter without Yeji's professional presence.

"You were just here yesterday." Jinyoung chuckles, "Getting some drugs for yourself too?"

Hyunjin smiles, then nudges Jinyoung playfully, "You know that I don’t do that."

"Then why are you here?" Jinyoung looks so hot today. He’s wearing glasses and has disregarded his suit jacket, and his white shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows.

Keep your lifelong crush in your pants, Hyunjin.

"I’m here to see Jeongin. Yeji's looking into him for some reason, and I need his last name."

Jinyoung narrows his eyes, "That’s strange. His last name's Yang, though."

"Where is he? I need to ask him questions." Hyunjin pulls out his phone.

"I don’t think he’s here today. He’s got class."

"Class?"

Jinyoung walks behind his desk and clicks some keys on his computer, knowing on his lip as he thinks. "Yeah, he sent me an email. He only works Mondays, Wednesdays, and the weekends."

Thats strange. Guys in the mob usually don’t go to University, since nothing offered at University remotely applies to their line of work. Maybe Yeji was right to have suspicions.

Hyunjin clicks record on his phone. "Do your other employees go to school?"

"No." Jinyoung sits down and crosses his legs. "I dunno. Choi sent him to me and told me he was a good worker last week. He’s not made or anything. I dunno."

"But he’s... he’s an assistant." This isn’t adding up. "Did you research him?"

Jinyoung cracks his neck. "Lightly. Nothing weird came up."

Hyunjin scratches his face, "Where does he go to school?"

"University of Seoul."

Hyunjin scratches at his neck, now. It’s hot in here and his suit jacket is rubbing against him in an uncomfortable way. No wonder Jinyoung took off his jacket. He finishes the recording, then bows his head to Jinyoung. There’s nothing else he can get from Jinyoung. This goes to Yeji and she'll figure it out. She always does.

"Bye, Hyung."

"Bye."

Yeji and Hyunjin meet for dinner at some Japanese restaurant. It’s their usual choice of restaurant, so they hardly step inside before they’re swept back into a side room. Yeji's wearing all black and smells metallic, having just came from whatever transaction she was making. She had a wild look in her eyes earlier in the evening, but is now back to her usual reserved expression.

"Jeongin?" She asks.

"He wasn’t there. Apparently he’s a University student and only works a few days." He gets out his phone and lays it flat on the table. "Jinyoung said his last name is Yang, though."

"Yang..." Yeji repeats to memorize it, no doubtedly adding it to her bank of hundreds of names and faces that she keeps pristine in her mind. Hyunjin clicks play on the recording and Yeji listens intently. It’s short and ends quickly, and the expression on Yeji's face is utterly unsatisfied. She scratches at her hairline. "I’m going to Jinyoung's tomorrow. I need to talk to Jeongin."

Hyunjin snorts. "You’re gonna scare him away."

"What do you mean?" Then conversation pauses for a moment as the waiter enters with their food. After he leaves, Yeji continues, "Do you think I’m scary?"

"I don’t." Hyunjin points a finger at his chest. "But literally everyone else does."

"But I’m not scary!" Yeji whines, a pout spreading across her lips.

"Accept it." Hyunjin's words are muffled through a mouthful of food. "You kill people, you’ve got those dumb sharp eyes. You’re scary."

"You do too!"

"But I smile." Hyunjin gives an example of his bright smile that he gives most people. Yeji rarely smiles unless she’s completely comfortable in a situation. So, she smiles right now, but she would return to her scowl if the waiter walked in. Hyunjin gulps down his food. "I’ll go see Jeongin tomorrow."

"Fine. Record everything."

"Yeah, whatever."

Hyunjin's back on his shit. He’s hungover this morning because Minho had managed to convince him that it was a good idea to party on a Tuesday night. In the moment, it was a good idea. But Hyunjin's head is pounding even though he took six ibeprophens and downed two bottles of water. At least his face isn’t puffy because that’s his major selling point. He wears black jeans and an oversized black shirt that shows just the right amount of collarbones since he’s not working today and there’s no need for a suit.

"Third day in a row?" Jinyoung smirks.

"Jeongin's working, yeah?"

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. "It’s the third door on the right. Get out."

Hyunjin blows a kiss at Jinyoung, then goes to Jeongin's office. He pauses at the door and clicks record on the voice memos, then shoves it in his pocket before knocking.

"Come in." The sharp voice calls through the door, muffled.

Hyunjin opens the door and is met by the strong blow of a fan that circles around the middle of the room, spreading its air to four desks, each in a corner of the room. Only one is occupied at the moment by a boy wearing an ill-fitting cheap suit. Jeongin. He has no business being so cute while wearing a cheap suit.

"Hi. I’m Hyunjin." He crosses the room to Jeongin's desk which is a mess of papers and pens.

"I remember. What do you want?" He speaks formally, but his tone is uncaring, yet demanding. People have talked to Hyunjin like this before, but it’s never been a boy. Never been a cute one.

"I just had a few questions for you." Hyunjin explains, "I was just curious as to why you’re in Mapo-gu, Kim territory, when you’re under Choi."

Jeongin leans back in his office chair, a strange aura of confidence exuding off him, starkly different from the first impression two days ago. "Choi's skins. I don’t really vibe with that."

"Most men don’t have a choice."

"With all the initiations recently, new men and such, I decided to ask Choi if I could do something that wasn’t skins." Jeongin shrugs, "Choi and Kim are close so he sent me here."

"He let you choose?" Hyunjin doesn’t believe Jeongin's words.

"He had enough men. A third of the money I make goes to him. I dunno. He just let me."

Hyunjin's eyes are drawn to the paper's on Jeongin's desk. Some of them are formulas for calculating payments and such for the company, but others are university work. This brings him to his next question, "But you’re not a full time worker."

Jeongin chuckles. "Jesus. What’s with this interrogation. I go to University. I can’t work full time."

"You’re allowed to go to university?"

"Yes, I just said that I go."

"That's strange."

Jeongin scrunches his nose and sniffs. "Why?"

"Well, most mob guys don’t go to University because it doesn’t help them in this line of work. Another thing is that most bosses require that everyone work full time." Hyunjin says this to remind himself just as much to inform Jeongin, who is obviously clueless in the matter.

"Thats strange. I dunno, though. Jinyoung's chill with it, Choi's chill with it... I don’t see an issue." A grin grows on Jeongin's lips and he licks his top teeth. "You’re recording this. Why?"

"How do you know I’m recording?" Hyunjin reaches for his phone.

"You keep looking at your phone." Jeongin snorts.

Hyunjin holds the microphone to his mouth and whispers, "Sorry, Yeji."

This makes Jeongin burst out in laughter, "Your sister is making you record?"

"She doesn’t trust you."

"Ouch." Jeongin fakes being hurt, pounding his fist to his chest.

Hyunjin forgets the rest of the questions he was supposed to ask. Now, he just wants to get to know Jeongin. He’s witty. He’s smart. And from the homework on his desk, he’s very good at math. Hyunjin ends the recording and shoots a smile at Jeongin. Yeji could never do this.

"When's your break? Let me buy you lunch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the chapters I write are so short. This is called having adhd. :/


	4. To Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my metaphors are weird in this chapter. Ignore it for the sake of my pride pls

Hyunjin is an imbecile. Yeji is sure of it.

He forgot to ask Jeongin the majority of the questions that he was supposed to and _went to lunch_ with him with no mention of business. Did nothing matter to Hyunjin?

As usual, Yeji has to do everything by herself. It’s a gorgeous Tuesday morning, so Yeji takes her laptop and coffee onto the balcony decorated with a plethora of flowers that dangle over the edge of the black railing, dropping petals onto the passerby several stories below. The air is chilly and the road is quiet, just echoes of traffic from the busier parts of the city wafting towards Yeji.

When Hyunjin and her had come of age, their Father told them to leave the house. For a couple weeks, Yeji stayed with Lia while she searched for an apartment. Hyunjin found one quickly in the center of the city, located in a building owned by their father. It was always noisy and pristine filled with maids and butlers to his hearts content. Yeji opted for a smaller, quieter apartment. She had to buy the building, but now rents out the other spaces and has earned back what she spent. She doesn’t have maids or butlers, rather preferring to do the cleaning and cooking herself. Thus, her apartment was much messier than Hyunjin's, but at least it felt like home.

Yeji punches Jeongin's name into the search bar of the database. She only has a small part of it on her computer, since her father has different parts of the databases distributed throughout Seoul. It’s an archaic system, and Yeji constantly proposes more efficient ways to keep their information easily accessible, yet equally hidden. Father doesn’t like to listen to Yeji, though.

Nothing comes up for Yang Jeongin, and neither Choi nor Kim are in this database. Yeji nibbles on her hot pink fingernail and makes a plan for the day.

Perhaps she could go see Nam. Jaebum would probably be there.

Yeji slams her laptop closed, which scares away a bird that had been chirping on her roof. She mumbles an apology, then hurried inside to prepare herself for the day. 

Hair up in a high ponytail, dressed in a beige, oversized suit set, gun strapped below her armpit, Yeji steps into the car.

"Nam's apartment, please." She instructs her driver, who has not left her side for two years. 

Yeji is a little more meticulous about her appearance today. She blots her red lipstick onto a tissue and shoves it into her black purse before pulling out her powder and checking her makeup. Her eyeliner is slightly uneven, so she fumbles with the black liquid at the traffic lights.

"Thank you. I’ll call you when I’m finished." She flashes a smile at the driver, then gets out of the car.

Nam's butler barely question's Yeji as she’s buzzed up, and she’s greeted with a warm hug from Nam when she enters his tacky apartment.

"Good morning." She bows hastily, craning her neck around the living room to see if she can see Jaebum. She cannot. "I need to access your database. It shouldn’t take me more than a moment."

"Of course, dear." Nam guides Yeji down the hallway of his massive apartment that takes up three whole floors. One is for guests and employees, and the other two are for living. Yeji has rarely been past the first staircase. "Stay as long as you need. You know where the computer is."

"Yes, I do." Yeji accidentally makes eye contact with Nam's prostitutes that he bought and keeps at the house at all times. They’re pretty in an artificial way, after being forced under the knife to meet the ridiculous beauty standards. She stumbles in a hurried bow, then rushes down the hallway.

She doesn’t bother knocking before entering the database room since it’s usually empty, but is jumps back at the sight of another person in the room. He’s wearing a full black suit, sitting in the large office chair, scanning over files. Even from the back, Yeji can tell that it’s Jaebum.

She coughs to announce her presence.

Jaebum jumps slightly and turns around with a scowl on his face that softens when he realizes who is in the room. "Hey, Yeji. What’re you doing here?"

"I need to access the database." Yeji gulps. Jaebum looks good, manly. She wonders what he would look like in a suit that fits him better.

"For what?"

"Is that your business?"

Jaebum turns back around, lips pursed. "I guess not."

"No, it’s-" Yeji pulls up a smaller office chair beside Jaebum. "I’m looking into Yang Jeongin. The boy I asked you about, remember?"

"Yeah, I do. I’ll look him up. What was his name again?"

And part of Yeji's stomach flutters because Jaebum _remembers_. She clears her throat, worried that her voice might come out like a child's. Luckily, she keeps her composure. "Yang Jeongin."

Jaebum punches in the name, and to Yeji's surprise, there’s one result.

"Click on it."

Jaebum rolls his eyes, "I was about to."

"Yeah, whatever. Click on it."

He covers the mouse with his large hand and looks at Yeji with a playful smirk on his lips. "You think you can order me around?"

"W-no. Just click on it."

"Say please."

Yeji pretends to be annoyed. She scoffs, " _Please_ click on it."

His curiosity must have gotten the better of him, because he finishes joking and clicks on the name.

There isn’t a lot of information, just a school picture and some base-line records. He’s 19, was born in Busan, and goes to the University of Seoul. That’s it. 

"This is strange." Yeji bites her fingernail. "He’s slightly higher ranking... I mean, it’s enough to be an assistant. Why isn’t there anything... it doesn’t even say who’s man he is."

Jaebum clicks out of the records. "Who’s man did he say he was?"

"Choi."

A few strikes of the keyboard and they’re looking at the compiled list of every single one of Choi's men. Yeji knows most of the names except for a few new ones, and they scroll until they reach 'Y'. There’s a Yang Namjoon and a Yang Youngjae, but no Jeongin.

Yeji's breath catches in her throat and her heart bubbles with excitement, "Look up Kim. Songpa."

Back down the list to 'Y'. Again, no Jeongin.

So, he’s not who he says he is. There is a possibility of this database being incomplete, so Yeji won’t have an argument until she goes through every single database. Now, at least, she has something to base her claim off.

She stands up in a hurry, "I’m going to Chan's."

"Wait, you didn’t even tell me why you’re looking up Jeongin." Jaebum latches his eyes onto Yeji's and it stops her in her tracks in the same way that a hand on her wrist would.

"I like to know everything. Jeongin... Jeongin is strange."

"You keep saying strange."

Yeji chuckles, "For lack of better words."

For a moment, there’s silence in the dark computer room. What would if feel like for Jaebum to hold her wrist?  
  
Jaebum stands up as well, "I’ll go to Chan's with you."

Jaebum is tall. Why had Yeji never noticed that before. They’re standing close and Yeji, quite literally, has to tilt her head up to make eye contact with him. If she were to kiss him, she would have to stand on her toes. Then again, that’s a stupid thought.

"You don’t need to come with me." She breaks the eye contact and searches for her purse.

"I’m still learning how everything works. I’d like to come, if that’s okay." Jaebum says those words, but his tone says that he doesn’t care. He’d go with Yeji whether she said yes or no.

"Yes, I suppose you can come if Nam is okay with it."

Jaebum grins in a soft, goofy way that’s quite different from his sharp angles. "Nam's okay with anything."

Jaebum opens the car door for Yeji, then runs around the other side and opens the passenger door. Yeji pokes her head in the front and giggles, "What are you doing?"

"Getting in the car?"

"Sit in the backseat."

Jaebum scoots into the backseat, fiddling with the rings on his fingers slightly. "I haven’t sat in the backseat before."

"I have a feeling you’ll be sitting here a lot more." Yeji turns her attention to the driver and instructs, "Chan in Jongno-gu, please."

"So you can say please." Jaebum teases.

Yeji nudges him, "I just don’t say please to you."

He strokes the black, leather seat between them before speaking again, but his words catch in his throat when Yeji takes her gun out of the holster and sets it carefully on the floor. He chokes out, "You carry a gun all the time?"

Yeji shrugs, "Is that strange?"

"Well... Yeah!"

"You seen quite off-put at the sight of a gun," she remarks, "Didn’t Nam teach you how to shoot?"

"Yeah, but I don’t carry. It’s illegal.”

This makes Yeji burst into laughter. She lunges forward, but the seatbelt catches her before she can fall down completely. It’s an awkward angle, but she can’t stop giggling. "Jaebum... you’re in the _mob_."

"So?"

Yeji gapes, "You’re clueless."

The pieces fit together in Jaebum's mind, and his lips form a small 'o'. 

"You had to kill someone to get made, didn’t you? You perform fraud and stuff like that everyday." Yeji manages to control her giggles. "I’m sure that carrying is the least of your worries."

"I’m literally so stupid." Jaebum rubs his temples, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. It’s endearing.

"Do you not have a gun?"

"No, I don’t."

Yeji nods, making a mental note of this. It will probably come in handy later, whether she’s fighting with Jaebum or against him.

"This database system is dumb." Jaebum says at a red light, "Mr. Hwang has us running all over Seoul just for one name."

"Once you memorize the system, it’s easier because you’ll know where to look. With Jeongin, I don’t even know where to start so I have to run around everywhere." Yeji attempts to defend her father. She knows that it’s a dumb system, but she can’t openly contradict her father.

"Has he ever tried to fix it?"

"I have, but no one really listens to me," Yeji explains, "I think that having several flash drives in one area would be easier. Easy to be destroyed, able to control who looks at them, all that stuff. Father said it was a stupid idea, though."

Jaebum lowers his eyebrows, "Thats actually a really good idea."

"It is?"

"Yeah. You’re really smart."

Now, it’s Yeji's turn to blush. She tries to hide it by shifting her ponytail to the side of her face that Jaebum sees.

"You’re gonna be a really good boss one day." Their pinkies touch on the armrest, but Yeji is quick to pull her hand away. This is too much, too fast.

"It’s Hyunjin and I together."

"Okay... you’re going to be a really good _co-boss_ one day."

Chan's office is messy, filled with wrappers from take-out, papers and flash drives, and his dumb friends most of the time. It’s a wonder how he knows where everything is, but when Yeji asks him for Yang Jeongin, Chan knows exactly where to look. He runs the biggest part of the database with the most in depth information. The only downside is that it takes a week to retrieve the information since Chan is meticulous in his digging.

"So, do you think that you can find any information?" Yeji asks.

Chan takes a huge bite out of his sub sandwich, then nods confidently. Chaeryeong is off to the side, staring lovingly at her boyfriend. Yeji will never understand how those two fell in love. Chan's a psycho information-seeker, and Chaeryeong is the presidents granddaughter. She’d love to be a fly on the wall at family dinners.

"While I’m here, can I make a request?" Jaebum asks.

Chan shrugs as a go-ahead.

"Information on Kim Taehyung and Bae Joohyun. Anything you got."

Yeji peels her eyes at Jaebum. Why did he need information on those people? It was probably something for Nam, Yeji assumes. She decides not to press.

On the way out, Chaeryeong pulls Yeji to the side and whispers, "He’s cute. Where’d you get him?"

Yeji glances at Jaebum, who is on the phone with someone, mindlessly kicking at the carpet. She smothers a smile, "He’s Nam's new man. He’s smart."

"He’s _hot_." Chaeryeong fans herself, "Bring him to the gala with you. I know that Seungmin ditched you."

"You think I should?" Yeji toys with her hair. "He doesn’t have any good suits, though."

"Then buy him some." Chaeryeong suggests.

"I was going to buy him a gun."

Chaeryeong slaps Yeji's arm. "That’s stupid, Unnie. Buy him suits and a tux. Lord knows, he needs them."

"You’re right."

Back in the car, Yeji waits a moment before asking Jaebum the question that is on the tip of her tongue. She wants to make sure that her words are perfectly formed, and her tone composed. There is no need to sound like an excitable little girl at a time like this.

She clears her throat. "There is a gala on Saturday night, would you be interested in going with me? For the learning experience, of course." She adds on the last part as to not be too eager.

Jaebum nods. "Yes, I’ll go. Thank you. It will be nice to get the _experience."_  
  
"Fantastic!" She doesn’t even bother smothering her smile. She turns her attention to the driver, "Nayeon's boutique in Gangnam, please."

"A boutique?" He quizzes.

"I assume that you don't have a proper tux for the event. So, yes. A boutique."

Jaebum runs a stray hand through his short hair. "I can’t afford a nice tux."

"I’ll buy it," Yeji says too quickly. Her heart jumps in her chest, so she leans back into the seat to regain her nonchalant composure. Calmly, she repeats, "I’ll buy it."

"I can’t let you-"

"Then I’ll order you," she shrugs. "What color do you like on you?"

Nayeon is ecstatic when Jaebum walks in the boutique. She basically jumps up and down, claiming that she hasn’t had a 'nice young man' to dress in a long while. Most of the men she sells to are the old, lumpy men with dozens of wives. Disgusting.

"Oh, Yeji!" She squeals, "What are we looking for today?"

"Take his measurements, go ahead and keep them too. We need a tux to go with my yellow dress for the gala." Yeji sits down on the chairs in front of the mirrors, and motions for Jaebum to follow her. He steps inside uncomfortably, eyeing the suits and tuxes that line the room, which are probably more expensive than his entire wardrobe.

"Step up, sir." Nayeon slides on her glasses, then wraps a tape measure around her neck. Jaebum looks at Yeji for confirmation, then waves her hand to the raised section in front of the three, floor to ceiling mirrors. Nayeon gets to work, instructing Jaebum to take off his jacket. "Thank goodness you brought him to me, darling. This suit is quite... quite..."

"Bad." Yeji fills in the last word with a slight giggle.

"Yes, there it is." Nayeon lifts Jaebum's chin with her sharp fingernail and runs her tape measure down the length of his torso. "So what are we thinking, black, gray?"

"I was thinking navy, perhaps," Yeji inquires. "Don't you think it would be lovely with his complexion?"

"Yes, yes I do." Nayeon wraps up her measurements, then mutters to herself as she rushes around the room, trying to find the correct suit.

"I don’t like navy." Jaebum all but pouts.

"You will."

Nayeon comes back, holding two tuxes over her shoulder. She shows them both to Yeji, who chooses. Next, she tells Jaebum to put it on.

"Do you have a fitting room?" He asks.

"No. Just change here."

Jaebum's eyes pop out of his head, "Here?"

"I hope that you’re wearing underwear," Nayeon smirks.

"Well... yeah."

"Then change."

Jaebum bites his lip, then begins to undress. He starts by unbuttoning his black shirt, holding it closed until the last moment when he switches it out for the white shirt that Nayeon holds up for him. However, he’s not quick enough for Yeji to catch a glimpse of a toned chest and wide shoulders with a snake tattoo weaving up his ribs. The snake tattoo, the symbol of a made man. Yeji has one as well, located in between her shoulder blades on her back.

"Don't stare," Jaebum murmurs gruffly as he pushes down his pants and reaches for the new ones. But Yeji can’t seem to take her eyes off, because Jaebum has another tattoo on his mid-thigh. It’s small characters that Yeji can’t see from the jostling.

Nayeon helps Jaebum shrug on the jacket, then gets to work pinning. "We don’t have anything in his exact size, so I’ll alter this. It should be ready by Saturday morning."

"Thank you for doing this on such short notice, Unnie," Yeji cracks a smile.

"Anything for you, doll." She’s silent for a bit, while she holds the pins in her teeth, then speaks once they’re out, "While he’s here, do you want me to make him anything else?"

"Yes. How about three day suits. Two gray, one black." Yeji turns her attention to Jaebum, "How does that sound?"

"I feel like you’re my mother."

"I’m sorry, but you just need some new suits." She says unapologetically, "Is there a color you want?"

"Purple."

"Absolutely not."

Jaebum chuckles as he shakes his head. "You can choose whatever. You’re the one buying."

The fitting wraps up without a hitch, and Yeji gives Nayeon her card. She instructs Nayeon to deliver the tux and the rest of the suits to her, under the premise of not knowing where Jaebum lives, but actually just wanting more excuses to see him. Something about the man made Yeji's heart flutter in a way it hadn’t before.

It was stupid to fall in love, as everyone always told her. Only weak women fell in love and let themselves be secondary to a man, so Yeji has always avoided this feeling. As soon as her heart gives a little stutter, she cuts off whoever caused it. But it’s different with Jaebum. Something deep inside tells her that she can trust him.

So, she does.

***

It’s Friday night, and Hyunjin's at his club surrounded by all of his friends. They're playing poker with the ante set at 1,000 dollars, and every chip color is up a thousand from there. Minho sits to Hyunjin's right, as he always does, and the rest of his friends are scattered around the circular table. Ryujin, Chaeryeong on Chan's lap, Jisung, Seungmin, and Lia. Changbin and Felix were here, but they had to fold because they had some murder to commit.

Hyunjin's hand is shit. He's got a two pair, and that’s it, but he just keep going higher. Lia and Jisung have already folded, but everyone else is going strong. He sip on my scotch, poker face employed. Hopefully, the others think he's got a flush.

Hyunjin raises by 5,000, and Chan and Chaeryeong fold. His heart begins to race. He should fold soon.

Ryujin raises 2,000.

A face catches his eye through the security camera that is projected onto a TV, and he loses all interest on the game. Jeongin is in _his_ club, not even knowing who it belongs to. He waves over a staff member and instructs him to bring Jeongin to the VIP area.

Hyunjin folds, rather choosing to lean back in his chair in an attempt to look bored. A few minutes later, Jeongin is guided up the stairs with big eyes and quivering legs. Nobody had told him why he was here. The terrified expression on his face fades at the sight of Hyunjin, and replaces itself with a cocky smile. He saunters over to Hyunjin and places a hand on the back of the chair. "Invited me up to the VIP area, did you?"

"Who said it was me?"

"I don’t know anyone else here."

Hyunjin turns around to look at Jeongin and cracks a grin. "Excellent deduction skills, Jeongin."

He bows dramatically and pretends to be bashful at the sound of nonexistent applause. A chair is pulled up for Jeongin, and he sits to the right of Hyunjin, quickly realizing that all eyes are on him. Hyunjin doesn’t bother to introduce him, rather asking, "Want to join the game?"

"What are you playing?"

"Poker."

Jeongin shrugs. "Why not."

Chan deals this time, momentarily distracted by Chaeryeong giggling into his neck.

"No PDA, please." Ryujin punches Chaeryeong with all her might, and she nearly falls off Chan.

"Calm down." Chan takes his time, making sure that his girlfriend is okay, then continues dealing.

Hyunjin has the possibility for a good hand, and with five-card draw, he might be likely to get what he wants. He’s got a nine and a jack, both spades.

"What'd you have?" Hyunjin peeks at Jeongin's cards, but only catches sight of a three of hearts before he slams his cards down on the table.

"Playing dirty, are you?" He flashes his gorgeous smile. "Didn’t take you for a cheater."

"I’ll be whatever you want me to be." The words come out of Hyunjin's mouth before he can think it through, but he knows that his consciousness made the right choice when a flight flush creeps across Jeongin's cheeks.

He just mumbles, "Don’t say stuff like that."

Hyunjin discards three cards, and receives shit. It’s much more interesting to watch Jeongin, so he folds right away.

"Lemme help you." He rests his chin on Jeongin's shoulder. Jeongin turns his head to look down at Hyunjin, lips momentarily brushing Hyunjin's forehead.

"Alright." He shows Hyunjin his cards. Shit.

"Oh, that’s really good," Hyunjin lies through his teeth. "You could get far with that."

Jeongin catches on quick, "You think?"

"Hell yeah, dude."

The round continues, Chaeryeong and Chan folding right away to go fuck. Jeongin drinks rum, courtesy of Hyunjin's tab. Hyunjin is tipsy, so he’s touchy. One part of him is touching Jeongin at all times, and it goes from their shoulders to their feet.

"Should I fold?" Jeongin whispers in Hyunjin's ear.

"No, not yet. Your hand's too good." Another barefaced lie, said loudly enough to gather the attention of the two others still in.

"It's a lot of money, man."

"Don't worry." Hyunjin slides his foot up Jeongin's shin. "Keep going."

So he goes another round, but ends up folding without even consulting Hyunjin when the amount is raised 10,000.

"You all reek of daddy's money." Jeongin slides his cards to the center of the table, then leans back in his chair, arms crossed.

Ryujin rolls her eyes, "Who even is this?"

"Jeongin," Hyunjin drunkenly introduces, "He works for Jinyoung. He's m'friend."

"And that’s enough for you." Jeongin slides Hyunjin's whiskey glass away from him.

"Okay? And you’re poor." Ryujin frowns.

"I make money honestly."

Seungmin chuckles, "None of us make money honestly. Not in this life."

Jeongin cocks his head to the left and hisses in a breath. It’s such a baseline gesture, but it sends a net of butterflies into Hyunjin's stomach. "You’ve got a point."

"Let’s go dance." Hyunjin pokes Jeongin's stomach, who shoots up at those words.

He searches his wrist for a watch, then pats down his pockets for his phone. "Shit!"

"What?"

"I’ve gotta go!" He backs away. "Lovely to meet you all. Bye!"

"Wait, Wait!" Hyunjin follows him out, stumbling slightly. "Why do you gotta go?"

Jeongin runs his hands up and down his face, stretching the skin. "I’ve got an errand to run for Jinyoung. I-I shouldn’t've stayed this long."

"But-"

He gives Hyunjin a pained look, then turns around to run down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who’s ur fav so far?


	5. It’s the pain for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a while to get this update out, but here you go!

**July 10th, 2010**

The nail polish stared at 10 year old Hyunjin from the very top shelf of the bathroom. It was bright red with little pieces of glitter in it, and was _so pretty._ Earlier that, Yeji painted her nails with it and it looked so nice on her small, chubby hands. She had smiled so wide when she was finished, claiming that it was the best she had ever painted her nails before.

Hyunjin did not understand the excitement between painting your nails well, but he wanted to understand. The nail polish would make his hands look pretty too, wouldn’t it?

He stood on top of the counter and grasped the red nail polish in between his grubby fingers, grunting has he jumped down and sat on the white, tile floor. Yeji had placed a paper towel under her hands, so Hyunjin did the same, then unscrewed the lid and grimaced at the putrid smell. Yeji hadn’t minded it, so Hyunjin won’t either,

The red paint glided on his thumb easily and in a thin layer. Hyunjin pokes his tongue out of his mouth, deep in thought. The nail polish was more vibrant on Yeji's nails. Did you have to be a girl for it to work? He continued painting his left hand, spreading the red polish over his fingers in the process, unable to control the small brush.

He finished one hand, then switched to the other. This one was much harder, and he was hardly able to get the paint on his actual nail, but he was adamant on completing what he started.

Hyunjin had never seen boys with painted nails before even though it was so pretty. All of the boys at his school were concerned with their fancy sneakers and Pokémon cards instead of the pretty things like nail polish and lipstick. Of course, Hyunjin would _never_ wear lipstick because that's for girls, but the nail polish was just irresistibly pretty.

Once he finished, he held back both hands to admire his work, but was disappointed upon discovering that it didn’t look as good as Yeji's. Maybe boys weren’t supposed to wear nail polish after all.

With a huff, he placed his hands under the sink and scrubbed with soap and water. It worked well to get the wet parts off, but the dry parts wouldn’t budge. How was one supposed to remove the nail polish if soap and water didn’t work?

"Yeji!" Hyunjin called.

"What?"

"Can you come here?"

Footsteps padded to the bathroom door, and the locked doorknob shook. "Open up. What do you want?"

Hyunjin crawled to the door and whispered through the crack, "How do you get nail polish off your fingers?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I’m curious."

Yeji giggled, "Did you put on nail polish?"

Her condescending tone sent a frown to Hyunjin's lips. He grumbled, "Yes."

Yeji laughed harder at this, then shook the doorknob some more, "You're so dumb. Let me in. I’ll show you."

Hyunjin unlocked the door and opened it ever so slowly, poking his head out the door. Yeji's smile dropped at the sight of her twin brother, replaced with an expression of concern. She slid in the bathroom and knelt in front of the cabinet below the sink, "There’s special nail polish remover."

Hyunjin balled his fists behind his back, suddenly ashamed over what he did. "How do I use it?"

Yeji pulled out a bottle of pink liquid and a bag of cotton balls. She smiled softly, then motioned for Hyunjin to sit as well. "I’ll do it for you. We have to get all of the nail polish off."

"Why?"

"Daddy's going to be mad if he sees." She got the cotton ball wet and placed it on Hyunjin's nail. The smell was even worse than the nail polish.

"Why's he going to be mad?"

Yeji paused for a moment, then continued vigorously scrubbing despite Hyunjin's hisses for her to slow down. "You painted your nails like a girl. He’s going to think you want do be a girl."

"I don’t want to be a girl!" Hyunjin pouted. "That’s gross."

"It’s just weird, Hyunjin. Don’t tell anyone."

Yeji finished up taking off the nail polish within the next few minutes, threw the used cotton balls in the trash can, then covered them with balled up toilet paper. Hyunjin stares at his nails that were still stained slightly orange, thinking that they did look better with red on them.

"Promise you won’t tell?" Hyunjin stared up at Yeji. She had grown taller in the past few months. Everyone told Hyunjin that he would eventually be taller. Sometimes he prayed about it.

"I promise." She tapped her throat twice, then gave a thumbs up. Hyunjin copied the gesture.

**Present**

Hyunjin is wearing a tux and is standing in the bathroom, staring at his complexion. Ryujin had insisted on putting some concealer on a pimple that he had, and Hyunjin was in no mood to argue. He’s trying to decide if the concealer is obvious and if anyone will notice.

They won’t, right?

Ryujin's black nail polish stares at him from the clear cabinet above the toilet, and Hyunjin looks down at his nails. There is a time and place for black nails, and he is still trying to find it.

***

Jaebum is 5 minutes late. Yeji is pacing around her apartment as she applies nude lipstick because Jaebum _is five minutes late_ and that could mean anything. Is he caught in traffic? Is he in a gunfight? Is he dead? There is so many possibilities and Yeji refuses to show up to the gala alone. Maybe she could call Minho? Jinyoung?

She's about ready to ask Hyunjin which of his friends are free when a knock finally comes at the door and Yeji nearly cries tears of relief.

"Your seven minutes late." She frowns.

"Traffic." Jaebum grunts, then enters the house without an invitation. "Nice place."

"Your tux is in the living room. Go put it on." Yeji waves him off and sits on the floor to pull on her nude, strappy heels. "And _hurry_."

Jaebum scratches his forehead as he walks into the living room and hides behind a wall so that he can change in private. "I’m sorry I’m late. I just-"

"You should have accounted for traffic," Yeji reprimands, "I’m sure that you know this already, but you can’t be late to anything in this life unless you want to be killed."

Jaebum pokes his head out from behind the white wall and grins. "Are you gonna kill me."

Yeji gets up and crosses the room to get her gun. She points it at Jaebum. "I might."

"Woah, babe. I said I’m sorry." The grin slips off his face.

Yeji puts the gun down. "I’m _kidding._ Learn how to take a joke, c'mon."

Jaebum walks out into the open, doing up his belt. He looks much better in a suit that fits him properly. He does a 360, "What do we think?"

"It looks great." Yeji helps him put on his jacket like her mother had always done for her father. It was a symbol of domesticity that Yeji dreamt of having with someone in the future. Her father would place a chaste kiss onto her mother's lips and wave to the children, then leave to go kill someone, probably. Yeji smooths down Jaebum's lapel, feeling his hard chest, then reaches a hand up to fix a strand of his hair that has gone astray. Luckily, Jaebum had done his hair before, so there was already gel to keep in in place. 

Here, at this distance from him, the smell of cedar wood wafted into Yeji's nose and filled her with warmth. Jaebum was a man, unlike all the other boys that Yeji knows. He is mature and driven and has a steady job.

This is someone that Yeji could rely on.

"Ready to go?" She draws her hand back.

"Yeah, lets go."

In the car there, Yeji explains what is going to happen at the gala, and how Jaebum should act. Everything needs to be perfect. Jaebum doesn’t know this yet, but this is his training in the wolves den. He will meet Yeji's parents and his subordinates, and must be on his best behavior to gain the approval of her father.

As they round the corner to the entrance of the museum where the gala is being held, Yeji hands Jaebum a holster, "Put this on."

"Why?" He takes it.

"I can’t hide a gun well enough to wear it with this dress," Yeji flips around the thin, silky material of her yellow dress. It’s a gorgeous a-line gown that comes in at the waist in a tiny, navy belt, then blossoms to the ground. It fits her close to the skin, and a gun on her thigh would stick out and it would become obvious that she was carrying. She settles for a pocket knife, strapped to her upper thigh. "You have to wear it."

"But this is a gala... do I really need it?" Jaebum takes off his coat and fumbles with the holster, slipping it over his head.

"You never know when you need it. It’s good to be prepared." Yeji shrugs. Bright flashes of light suddenly overtake her vision. There’s dozens of photographers in front of the entrance, taking pictures of the city's elite. Top politicians will be here along with celebrities and the mob. Most of the photographers won't know who Yeji is. They have no need to. Not yet. They’ll photograph her anyways because Yeji is pretty and she knows it. Yeji hands Jaebum the gun, "You have shot a gun before, right?"

"Obviously." Jaebum rolls his eyes, "But usually it’s not in a situation where I need to conceal it like this. Also, isn’t there security?"

The car slows to a stop, lining up behind the others. Yeji pulls out a mirror to make sure her makeup is still perfect. "Yes, but they won’t check us. My father will make sure of that."

Jaebum checks to make sure that the safety is on, then places it in his holster carefully.

"Just don’t walk weird, and you’ll be fine."

"Walk weird?"

"You’ll see." 

The car pulls up to the entrance, and Jaebum gets out to open the door for Yeji. He offers her his arm and she takes it. They walked in amidst flashes of cameras and shouts from photographers. Jaebum manages to keep his cool despite his minor panic in the car.

Inside, the museum is decorated with pink and white flowers. Banners cascaded from the ceilings detailing the opening of the museum and the organization that made it possible. Yeji scoffs. The mob had backed up the creation of the exhibit and were obviously not credited. This was typical, but it always undermined the mob's success. Her father did not mind this, but Yeji and Hyunjin had promised each other that when they lead, they will not shy away from showing their name.

As expected, Yeji and Hyunjin are able to skirt around the metal detectors and are guided in without trouble. 

"These aristocrats think that they are above everyone else," Yeji grimaces at the sight of gray old men with tummies the size of beach balls clinging onto their young, gold digging wives who are only used for arm candy. Hyunjin has always said that politicians are just glorified mobsters, and it is evident tonight when Yeji can’t even tell the difference between the two.

"That's disgusting," Jaebum motions to a girl, maybe the same age as Yeji, holding onto the arm of an Assemblyman. "I knew that Kim was married to a younger woman, but I didn’t know that she was just a girl."

"It sucks to say, but I’m used to it."

Jaebum nudges Yeji with a grin, "Would you ever see someone older than you?"

"How much older?" Yeji keeps her cool even though she knows what Jaebum is insinuating. She changes their direction so that they go towards the tables, but makes it look like Jaebum's leading.

"6 years?"

Yeji smothers a smile, "Depends on the person. Did you have anyone in mind."

Jaebum just continues grinning until he catches sight of Yeji's father and tries to turn around. It’s so strange how Jaebum can switch from a confident man to a terrified one in less than a second. Yeji places another hand on Jaebum's arm to guide him forward so that he can’t slip away.

"Just smile, but not too much. Answer his questions as truthfully as you can because he'll know when you lie. Be yourself," Yeji instructs.

"I’m going to die."

"You’re not going to die." Yeji gives Jaebum one last tug of the arm before they arrive at the table, seated with Yeji's parents, her brother, and two of father's subordinates. "Hello everyone!"

Father gives a small hello then continues chatting away with the man seated to his left, Park. Hyunjin and Ryujin greet the other two warmly, but it is Yeji's mother who sweeps her to the side and embraces her tightly.

"My daughter." She taps a finger on the tip of Yeji's nose, then squeezes her cheeks together.

Yeji grumbles, "You’re going to ruin my makeup, mom." 

"I wouldn’t do this is you visited me more often," she reprimands with a light slap on the side of her head. "Good daughters visit their mothers."

"You're embarrassing me," Yeji whines. Her mother always makes her feel like such a child. She hasn’t figured out that Yeji is a woman, now, and wants to be treated like one. Jaebum is also right behind Yeji, and she can feel the smirk burning in the back of her head.

"Won’t you come visit me soon? Take a break, Yeji."

"You know that I can’t." A distraction from the conversation comes in the form of Yeji's father, towering behind her mom. Yeji feels behind her to make sure that Jaebum is still present, then pulls him to her side, "Mom, Dad, this is Im Jaebum."

He bows hastily, "Its nice to meet you both."

"Yeji, you didn’t tell me that you were seeing anyone." Her mom reaches out to shake Jaebum's hand, and he shoots a glance at her before shaking it with both hands.

"I'm not seeing anyone-"

"Who’s man are you?" Father interrupts, staring bullets into Jaebum's head.

"N-Nam's, sir. I was just initiated last month."

"What do you do?"

"I collect information, sir. Whatever Nam needs, I get." He's breathless already. Yeji holds his hand, feeling the quick heartbeat.

"Are you smart?"

"Yes, sir."

Good answer.

Father glances to Yeji momentarily, but quickly looks at Jaebum again, who is looking somewhere else except his eyes. Thank goodness that Nam had managed to teach him manners.

"Who’s your father? Was he made?"

"Yes, sir." Jaebum gulps. Yeji squeezes his hand. "He’s Im Eunwoo."

"Im Eunwoo. He’s in prison, now, correct?"

"Yes, he has a life sentence, sir. He was caught money laundering, but-"

"I know, I know," Yeji's father dismisses his explanation. "He went to prison nearly 8 years ago, you’ve had to work up the ranks all by yourself, then?"

"Yes that’s why I’m under Nam, now."

"Work hard, son. Maybe you’ll have your own district under your name someday." With that, he walks away.

Jaebum exhales a massive breath and releases Yeji's hand, which he had been holding on to for dear life. "Why does he keep asking me questions that he knows the answer to?"

"Thats just how he works. Let’s go to the exhibit, now, yeah? You did a good job."

***

Hyunjin is not stupid. He sees the way that his sister looks at Jaebum, and it’s sends a pit of rage into his stomach, threatening to boil over. The shared glances. The smiles. The way that Hyunjin has never seen Yeji be so comfortable around someone that isn’t him.

Jaebum has trustworthy records. Hyunjin has pored over them with the help of Chan and Chaeryeong a few nights ago, memorizing every detail. His brothers. His family history and how his father went to jail with more than just one charge, several of them being for abuse. The year that he fell of the map for no apparent reason, showing up and attempting to become made.

Something isn’t right.

Yeji doesn’t sense it, which is strange because she has some sort of sixth sense for finding rats. Part of Hyunjin wants to trust his sister, but he just can’t when Jaebum as looking at her like she’s the world.

"Where are you going?" Ryujin breaks Hyunjin out of his thoughts as he unknowingly is walking in the direction of Jaebum and Yeji. "Chaeryeong and Chan are this way." She gives a tug on Hyunjin's arm and directs him in the opposite direction.

Hyunjin tears his eyes away from his sister and clears his throat. "Has Yeji talked about Jaebum to you?"

"A little," Ryujin says, "But she’s kinda weird about it. The other day, Yuna asked Yeji if she liked Jaebum and she got all red and flustered."

"Thats just how she is, though." Hyunjin recalls three years ago, when Yeji had gotten into her first relationship and refused to talk about it with anyone. It’s just her nature to be conservative and quiet. "Can you try to talk to her about him?"

"Yeah, it’s not gonna go well though," Ryujin pulls Hyunjin to their table towards the front of the space, seated with Chan and Chaeryeong, and Chaeryeong's parents, the President and First Lady of Korea. Hyunjin barely spares a bow at the man, knowing that he killed a prostitute in cold blood just last month, followed by a series of drug binges. He’s neither a good man nor a good politician. Hyunjin has no respect for him.

***

After looking at the exhibit, Yeji guides Jaebum back to their table, where they sit and wait for the speeches to begin. First is the president, talking about some issue that he doesn’t even care about. He has plenty of resources to fix it, yet he refuses to, rather choosing to spend his money on drugs and women.

Yeji scoffs, unable to hide her distaste.

Next is the leader of the charity, some politician that is only doing it for the glory. Yeji used to look up to this woman, a powerful and strong feminine figure that made Yeji feel like she could do anything. But then she found out that the politician was laundering money behind the nation's back.

Here's one thing about politics that Yeji has learned since she was recruited to the mob: its corrupt. It’s corrupt and dirty and nothing is ever as it seems. Sometimes, Yeji thinks that mob life is less dirty than politics.

But she digresses. Next, it is her father's turn to speak, and Yeji directs her full attention.

The speech begins as normal, some cheesy anecdote to gather interest. He speaks about the good of the cause, thanking everyone for their generous donations, then he goes on to speak about something that Yeji did not expect.

"As I was writing this speech and preparing for the night, it crossed my mind that this is the perfect occasion to speak about my successor for the company," he says, notably saying company because according to any outsider, that’s all it is. "I have two wonderful children, and as I grow older, I realize that I must name one of them to take over the company."

Yeji's ferocious blush from being mentioned is overtaken by a sudden chill infiltrating every inch of her body. She shivers, because her father just said _one._ From the beginning it was her and Hyunjin. _Always_ her and Hyunjin.

She makes eye contact with Hyunjin across the room, who is just as confused as she is.

"It is irresponsible to have both children take over the company," their father continues, "as this could create certain imbalances of power that I will not bore you with. I have carefully watched these two children over the past year, deciding who should be my successor."

Surely, it’s Yeji. She’s always been the most responsible. The most reliable. The best at everything.

_Surely._

"So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce my successor," he pauses for effect, "Hwang Hyunjin."

Yeji gasps, the shrill noise ringing around the table. There are no eyes on her as everyone applauds Hyunjin, watching him stand and bow.

She stands up, throwing Jaebum's hand off her thigh that she hadn’t even realizes was there, then stormed out of the gallery, tears burning in her eyes.

This is everything she has ever wanted. Everything she had ever strived for and lived for. To Hyunjin, this is a fun game.

This is Yeji's life.

She sprints out to the back of the museum, met by a large field, and, luckily, no photographers. She runs until she’s in the middle of her field, then sinks to her knees, shouting, "Why?"

Footsteps pound behind her, breathing heavy, but she has no strength to face whoever it is, especially not if it’s Hyunjin.

Because he has just stolen everything from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we pick up the pace ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Bruh for some reason I can’t stop starting stories rn I just have so many ideas haha haha oops. Anyways lemme know what u think of this first chapter!!,!


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